Re: Never too young.

Some of the best memories of my childhood were driving the 75hp case tractor and our manual f100 around the fields.

If memory serves, I was the same age as your grand kid when I began driving the truck (was too weak to load square bales onto the trailer, so had to drive the truck instead). I remember barely seeing over the dashboard and not even coming close to sitting on the seat while pressing the pedals, haha! Wasn't until I was 10 until I got to drive the tractor. I remember counting the days

It won't be long before he's buying his own. How time flies..

Be sure to save that photo. I only wish I had a similar photo of when I was a child. I bet he'll come looking for that picture 20 years down the road.

Re: Never too young.

I really like seeing pictures like this. My first memories are of learning to drive the tractor with my grandfather. It's so great for the children, too, to learn safety, awareness, responsibility, as well as working with their hands and all the other intangible traits that only experience can provide. Good on you for letting your grandson spend that time with you.

Re: Never too young.

me too, i remember very well riding on my uncles old grey ferg and a newer 135 MF he had back then with my dad as he worked on the flower farm my uncle owned. i couldnt wait until i could reach the pedals, i think i was about 8 or so. my 2 year old loves the tractor, my daughter runs away when i fire it up and he runs at me.

Re: Never too young.

I let my 15 year old mow the fields with the tractor (CT235) yesterday by himself. He had been wanting to mow by himself for a while but I was apprehensive (I tend to worry alot).

He did great. Mowed for 2-1/2 hours and did everything right.

I know many of you will think 15 is plenty old but we are all new to tractors and this was a big step for me.

Anyway, he was great and now I have help.

MoKelly

Now that he has done it once, your amount of seat time will decline. I started driving at age 10 and have went on from there from SCUTs to large utility tractors to skid steers and excavators. I gotta say it is a lot of fun and a great skill to have, although with 3 different controls on the Case, Bobcat, and Cat skid steers it takes some getting used too, especially since I prefer hand/foot controls. Good for your son too, it is a great skill for him to have.

Re: Never too young.

My grandfather had a 1948 John Deere Model A. Back in 1986, as a new 17 year old driver, it seemed unstoppable to me as it plodded along through the woods and redefined my idea of what a road was. Before riding as a passenger on that tractor, precariously perched over the left wheel, roads were wide stretches of smooth asphalt. Worst case: dusty, washed out clay and gravel paths. Grinding our way through the forest to harvest some trees, I learned that a "road" simply meant that no tree was in the way.

Since I managed to drive our family several hundred miles to get there, he was comfortable enough to let me drive the tractor. It was all levers and pedals and required both my feet and three of my arms to keep it moving. It was nothing like the 1974 Ford station wagon we used to get to my grandparents' home that summer. Driving back to the house, we - ok, I - stalled it out a few times but it always started right up again. The perspective afforded by the height of its seat and slow but confident pace really stuck with me. Instead of zipping down the highway relying on giant billboards and road signs for direction, the tractor let us look around as the scenery rolled slowly by. He'd tell me, "There's my deer stand." "That's where I shot a ground hog from 150 yards." "There's what's left of a moose. . ."

I have my own tractor now. It's a Kioti CK20HST and practically drives itself. And I'm ok with that. I appreciate having one less lever or pedal to concern myself with. But every now and then, I'll put it in low, throttle up and lock the 'accelerator' in place and cruise down the road towards home at a slower pace. And even though my grandfather died years ago, I tell him, "That's where I cleared a new garden." "That's where trapped the neighbor's cat." "That's where I . . ."

Re: Never too young.

Nice pics guys good for y'all letting them drive with you!

My dad taught me and my brother to drive cars when we were 6 or 7 he hauled new cars for a living with a transport semi and we drove lots of brand new cars back in the 60's before the dealers even saw them on the huge lot they had by the railroad tracks where they brought them in at.

As far as never too young my daughter is not ever going to be interested in driving mine she has her own life in the big city so grand kids will be awhile if we are that lucky to even get any but I sure hope to teach my wife to I could use the help sometimes doing loader work etc.